About Me

Wife to Greg, mom to 7, and grandma to 3! Welcome to a glimpse of our life. It is a place where chaos abounds, tears are shed regularly, laughter is inevitable, and family is EVERYTHING!!!! Everyday is about the choices we make. Let's choose today to be different. To live for him. To find joy in the little stuff. To worry less and to love more. To be who he created us to be. This blog is about my daily "choices" along the way. Won't you join me? It will be a wild ride. But, as I always tell my kids I once heard it said "there ain't no high like the most!”

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Wow! The last week just flew by here. Between appointments and school I just haven't been on here:( It started last Thursday with some record high temperatures which I absolutely love and now we are back to the freezing cold which I absolutely hate. Oh well the way time flies around here I will be sitting in the warm sunshine before i know it. Yeah! I thought this week was a good week in our reading and this book is so easy to read.....so let's get to it.

Friends Don't Let Friends Eat before Thinking - Chapter 4

We must be aware that desperation breeds degradation. In other words, when what is lacking in life goes from being an annoyance to an anxiety we run the risk of compromising in ways we never thought we would. (page 42)

This is so true. When something is lacking we will become desperate. I know in my own life I have ended up compromising in many ways I never thought possible. Awareness of this fact is the first step to safeguard yourself. Walking around saying that it could never happen to you is one of the most foolish things you can do.

Be aware and be on guard, sweet sister. Know that these are devised schemes to lure you away from your commitments. Find a friend who can speak rationality into your irrational impuleses. A friend who will hold you accountable, speak the truth in love, and pray for you. (page 43)

Accountability will be a huge factor in your success or failure. We were never meant to do life alone. It is much easier said than done usually because of our insecurities.

Complete this sentence: I do/do not want to invite a friend to help me on my journey to healthy eating because....(page 47)

Because then I would have to be honest with myself. It is much easier to try and fool myself than to try and fool someone else.

Made for More - Chapter 5

"You were made for more, Lysa, you were made fore more." I remembered it especially in those early weeks of my new healthy eating adventure when I was tempted by one million assaults on my sugar-deprived taste buds. I just kept mentally repeating.....made for more......made for more.(page 50)

The neurons in our brain create paths based on the things we repeat the most. If what we say to ourselves is mostly negative the path becomes more well defined and easier traveled. Repeating "made for more" to ourselves can change the path of our regular thinking and thus change our life. You get control of your thoughts and you regain control of your life.

I would love to share more today but I need to be going. What about you??? What struck you this week. Please check out the comments section. Becky and Made to Mother have lots of great things to say. Next week is chapters 6 and 7!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Can I just say I am loving this book. One of the things I like the most is how easy it is to read and how short the chapters are. I actually feel like I am accomplishing something:)

Replacing My Cravings - Chapter 2

Vowing to do better, eat healthier, and make good choices, I head into my dy only to find myself making more excuses, rationalizations, and promises for later.

Always later.

And the cycle I've come to hate and feel powerless to stop continues.(page 28)

I know exactly what she is talking about. I am queen of later. It is a trap. Tomorrow comes and I still fall prey to temptations. A cycle that desperately needs broken. Thankfully God is interested in breaking our cycles. I also love how honest she was about she starts every morning on the scale. I had to laugh because I have weighed myself everyday for years and I go through the same ritual and I hate it.

How do you respond to the idea of using your cravings as a prompt to pray? How has prayer helped or failed to help in your previous food battles?(page 33)

I think it is an awesome idea. Just like the idea of using scripture in the previous chapter. I just never tried it I guess. I used to never think of my spiritual and physical being connected. Prayer was never my first response when trying to lose weight or fight off a craving.

Getting a Plan - Chapter 3

Food had become like a drug. And honestly, it's a good drug of choice for a Christian woman. Every church event I attended readily provided my drug out in the open with no hesitation or judgment.(page 37)

This has always been my issue. I lose weight and I go back to old habits and I gain it back. This chapter was all about finding a plan that works and making it a lifestyle. That is the key. It is not a diet it is a way of life.

Do your feelings change when the plan is about food, what you will eat and not eat?(page 40)

Yes! As soon as I have a plan in place I feel deprived, I crave things, and I get grumpy. I need to change my perspective. On page 39 she encouraged us to look at it as embracing healthy choices rather than denying ourselves.

Well there are some of my thoughts....what about you??? Next week we will discuss chapters 4 and 5!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Ok so this week there was no Fabulous Friday because quite frankly I did not feel "fabulous" at all. I did realize some issues that I have. Don't you just love that. When you realize your still carrying around the same old baggage you just decided to carry it in a designer bag instead of a sack and so thus you pretend it is not there.

I have not been feeling well. I decided to go back to the doctors. I was already there two weeks ago. I end up at a doctor's office maybe once a year for myself if that. It' s not that I don't like doctors I just don't tend to like to listen so it really makes the visit a waste of time and co-pay. This is my issue not theirs. They are usually very kind and gracious.

After arriving on Thursday to find out that the antibiotic didn't help the bronchitis and now he hears wheezing in my chest and wants to put me on heavier antibiotic and steroids and an inhaler I was needless to say not happy. The conversation went something like this:

Doctor: We have 2 options just prescribe the medication because I am sure you need it or do a chest x-ray to confirm my findings although I don't think because of the wheezing I will change my mind on the treatment anyway.

Me: Can we do the chest x-ray because I don't want to take all the medication n(what I really mean is I have worked hard for the last month at the gym and I don't want to go on the steroid and I don't want to slow down)

Doctor: Chest x-ray confirms pneumonia

Me: Do I really have to take ALL that medicine and is bed rest really necessary?

Doctor: ?????

I believe he was dumbfounded by my response and it was then I realized that vanity and me are still fighting the same old stinking battle we have been fighting for years. You know if with pneumonia I insist on going to Kohls for furry leg warmers that are on clearance for $9 I have issues. Notice I said issues not issue.

Issue number two:

I have not slowed down. Went to co-op Friday and then to a museum I had free tickets for. I reasoned what homeschool mom gives up FREE tickets to a museum????

Issue number three:

I am stubborn and I don't listen and I hide it really well. Which will probably lead to an early demise. I told my kids just to cremate me put me in snack baggies and give me away to all my friends and leave some of me at all my "happy" places. So if you come across a baggie of ashes at the Coach Factory Outlet you will know things did not end well. This is the point where my kids go check their bank accounts to be sure they are saving enough for good quality therapy.

But seriously I tell women all the time they need to CEASE all the activity and then I go and don't listen myself. Ugh!

So it's Sunday morning and here I sit not feeling a whole lot better. Realizing I still struggle to put into practice all that I teach. I have been meditating on Jeremiah 23:29:

"Is not my word like fire," declares the LORD, "and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

I know I need His fire to penetrate my heart and mind. And sometimes I am stubborn as a dang rock but He is gracious and He is faithful and He is patient with this work in progress who still has "issues".

By the way the leg warmers are too cute. I think they are actually called "boot covers". And the steroid has made me eat like a wild woman and feel like I am about to jump out of my skin. Greg said it is how I normally act the medication is just allowing me to see it. Funny Greg, real funny.

Well enough of that....as you can see I still have a lot of unpacking of my baggage to do.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

It’s Wednesday and we are starting our discussion on Made to Crave. Just a few housekeeping details before we start. I will post any direct quotes from the book in red. My response will be bolded in black. I will pull out the things that stuck out to me the most and also maybe a question or two from the end of each chapter. If you are reading the book please jump in and add comments. We have so much to learn from one another I don’t want my voice to be the only one heard. With that said this week I will discuss the intro and chapter one…..

Intro: Finding Your “Want To”

To others, 167 is a dream weight. In my case, the number itself was not the issue. The issue was how I felt mentally, spiritually, and physically. It was time to be honest with myself.(page 13)

Lysa is so right with this statement. The number is not the issue. We get so caught up in what the scale says that we forget about the condition of our heart and most of our unhealthy choices come out of an unhealthy heart. Getting honest is always the first step to change. An honest evaluation and keen awareness of where you are and where you want to be will be the catalyst for real change in your life.

God made us capable of craving so we’d have an unquenchable desire for more of Him, and Him alone. Nothing changes until we make the choice to redirect our misguided cravings to the only one capable of satisfying them.(page 16)

Ugh! Nothing new there. We all know we have empty space that was created to be filled by God so then why do we always grasp for the things that make us even emptier. I know why…because they feel good and they are usually a quick temporary fix. I am not just talking about food here. It can be anything we exalt above our desire for God. That is the definition of a stronghold, isn’t it? And quick is the key word because we want things to feel better and feel better fast. Our feelings deceive us….The heart is deceitful above all else.

Chapter 1: What’s Really Going On Here?

As I was studying this story I realized how intentionally Satan chooses his tactics. He knows where we are weak. He desires to lure us away from God. And he knows what works…the cravings of the sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has or does.(page 22)

I hope we all realize Satan’s tactics. We need to always be on alert because he knows where we are weak. He can’t read our minds but he sure knows how to read our behavior. I think we often kid ourselves into thinking he is too busy to mess with us and in our denial we end up falling flat on our face completely lured away from God.

Jesus quotes the truth of scripture to defeat temptation (page 22). Have you ever used scripture in this way? What was the result? How do you feel about the idea of using this approach to address your unhealthy eating patterns?(question 5 page 26)

I have used scripture in this way and it is a method I teach often. Scripture is our offensive weapon. It is the divine power we have to demolish any stronghold. The result was always victory. I believe we can use this method to address our unhealthy eating patterns and anything else that we have exalted above God.

So what about you???? What struck you in these two chapters? Please share with us. Next Wednesday we will discuss chapters 2&3.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Happy Monday blog world! Hope your all doing well. I am doing fantastic. Who wouldn't be after the weekend I just had. The Girlfriends Getaway was far more than I ever dreamed possible. If any of you Faith Church girls are reading this....thank you, thank you, thank you. I was not kidding when I told you I could retire from speaking and would feel totally at peace and totally fulfilled after being with you girls this weekend. You are a very special group and I will not soon forget our time together. I could have easily spent a week with you all! You made me feel completely comfortable and I felt like I was a part of your group for years. God was present this weekend and spoke so much into many of our hearts. I came home and crashed on my couch and cried when I thought about the grace he showered on us this weekend. I miss you so much already. Just remember the "after retreat crash" we talked about. Don't despair and don't feel overwhelmed. Start each day with the ONE thing so you will know the one thing you need to do today!

For those of you reading who didn't spend the weekend with us....I'm sorry but you missed something great:) I did want to jump on today and talk a little bit about this Wednesday. Remember this week I am starting "What I'm Reading Wednesday" and I am starting with Lysa TerKeurst's new book "Made to Crave". I read through the Introduction and Chapter 1 and that's what I will be discussing on Wednesday. I hope any of you reading the book jumps in on the conversation because we have so much to learn from each other! I am sooo excited.

Well it's time for me to get back to the real world. Hope your day is blessed!

Friday, February 4, 2011

It is Friday and it is fabulous. I put the numbers into the random number generator and the winner of Lysa's new book is comment #2 - Chris. So Chris please e-mail me your address ASAP and I will send out the book.